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Nerodia rhombifer
Snake eating a fish. I would like info on both.
http://www.uta.edu/biology/herpetology/w...
As Ashley pointed out copperheads and cottonmouths would be the most common mis-id. I was just trying to point out the only groups really life-threatening to a healthy adult are corals and rattlers. I should have been clearer in my wording.
Being in east Texas, as this spotting was, the actual biggest worries as far as venomous snakes go are the Cottonmouth and copperhead. Neither rattle, copperheads blend in extremely well with their environment, and cottonmouths look very similar to the non-venomous water snakes that so many people mistake them for.
Neat find! Rare to come up on a snake eating prey.
Some basic herp info to share with your running mates... no snakes are poisonous, some are venomous. Being in TX the biggest worries you should have are rattlers (easy to identify by their rattle) and coral snakes (also easy to identify by coloration/pattern).
The fish looks like a Bullhead Catfish, either Black Bullhead or Yellow Bullhead.
Thanks for your quick response. I did not take the picture. I saw this snake yesterday at the park where my running club, Plano Pacers, holds its monthly runs. There were many questions about what kind it is, is it poisonous, etc from the participants, especially the kids. I thought I would post here for some answers. Thanks. If I find out who took the picture, I will credit it here.
What a great capture! As we can see both the snake & the fish more clearly in photo 2, you might like to make that the main image. You can do this by clicking on "Edit this spotting" & then dragging & dropping the images.
Welcome to the community!
Fantastic spotting! I cannot offer any information about the fish being eaten, but the snake looks like Nerodia rhombifer, a wonderful native species.
Spotted on Aug 31, 2013
Submitted on Sep 1, 2013
+4
